On this day, June 12 according to the Julian Calendar (June 25 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Venerable Peter the Athonite, one of the earliest and most celebrated hermits of Mount Athos, who reposed around 734 AD.
The Venerable Peter the Athonite is venerated as one of the very first monastic inhabitants of the Holy Mountain. He was a Byzantine military commander who, while on a campaign, was captured and imprisoned. In his dungeon, he prayed fervently to Saint Nicholas of Myra and to the Most Holy Theotokos, vowing that if God delivered him, he would abandon the world and embrace the monastic life.
Through the miraculous intercession of Saint Nicholas, Peter was freed from his imprisonment. True to his vow, he traveled to Rome to receive the blessing of the Pope, then went to the East. He encountered the Apostle Simon the Zealot in a vision, who directed him to Mount Athos, the earthly garden of the Mother of God. Peter went to Athos and lived there for decades as a hermit, experiencing many visions and spiritual trials.
He spent approximately fifty years in extreme solitude on Mount Athos, a life of unceasing prayer, fasting, and struggle against demonic temptations. He was discovered near the end of his life by a hunter, to whom he told his story. He reposed peacefully in the Lord around 734 AD.
The Venerable Peter the Athonite holds a special place in the history of Athonite monasticism as one of its founding fathers and a great intercessor for all who seek God on the Holy Mountain.
May the intercessions of the Venerable Peter the Athonite be with us all.